Means for facilitating escape from submerged craft



April '6, 1937. A. BELLONI MEANS FOR FACILITATING ESCAPE FROM suBMERG cAFT Filed April 9, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet I \NvENfOR ATTORNEY A. BELLONI April 6, 1937.

MEA NS FOR FACILITATING ESCAPE FROM SUBMERGED- CRAFT Filed April 9, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E u If r pfi li INVENTOR A N-GEL'O BEL L om ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 6, 1937 PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR FACILITATING ESCAPE FROM SUBMERGED CRAFT Angelo Belloni, La Spezia, Italy Application April 9, 1936, Serial No. 73,569 In Italy May 3, 1935 6 Claims. (Cl. IMF- 16.6)

The present invention has for its object an arrangement which permits individuals, who may be members of the crew, to leave and reenter submersibles when these craft are submerged at any depth not greater than 100-120- metres. The arrangement is such that it is applicable either to newly built submersible vessels,

or to existing ships, that are fitted with the requisite known form of hatchway, or are capable of being fitted with the same.

It is known to provide submersible craft with a barometric lock for each of the two fore and aft ordinaryhatchways, by using a rigid or collapsible tube, secured with a water-tight .joint beneath the lower scuttle of the hatchway and extending downwardly therefrom, 'in combination with a flxedor collapsible tank installed on the floor of the compartment beneath the hatchway, the upper edge of which tank is at a level above that of the lower edge of the downwardly extendingtube According to the present invention however, escape from submerged craft through hatchways in the fore and aft compartments is facilitated by means comprising a collapsible canvas tank installed on the floor of the refuge compartment and secured at one of its sides by a water-tight joint to the frame of a watertight door in the side of the hatchway, in such a manner that the door itself may be shut or opened inside the tank, which is flooded together with the lock, or the lower portion of the hatchway.

The means according to the present invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic vertical section through a compartment fitted with the means according to the present invention, the various doors being shown in positions which they might occupy when the submersible is floating on the surface of the water.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic horizontal cross section of the compartment shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is; an outside end view of the compartment illustrating a detail to be described later,

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are diagrammatic vertical sections of the compartment and show how the crew of a submerged vessel can escape by performing an air-lock manoeuvre.

Referring to the drawings, a collapsible tank I on the floor of the refuge compartment is secured by a watertight joint to the vertical frame of the watertight door 2 which opens towards the tank from the lower part 3 of the hatch- 55 way 3, 4. The hatchway has an outer door l and an inner door I, which divides the upper part 4 from the lower part 3 of the hatchway. The door 1 shown in the drawings and lying above the. collapsible tank l plays no part in the operations of escapingfrom the vessel when submerged and forms no part of the present invention. It may be opened when the vessel is on the surface to permit torpedoes to be taken on board. The hatchway 3, 4 has the form of a fixed, rigid tube and the upper edge 5 of the collapsible tank is at a level above that of the upper edge 6 of the watertight door 2, which is in effect the lower edge of the barometric tube in the resulting barometric lock.

With this arrangement, since the watertight door 2 will always be capable of being opened or shut inside .the tank I, it will be possible to provide for escaping either by a barometric manoeuvre or by an air-lock (or equilibrium) manoeuvre, the former being absolutely necessary when the refuge compartment attains a high pressure, and the latter being advisable whenever the depth is more than 30-40 metres. l l

Suppose now that the vessel is submerged, that the doors I, l and a valve l3 connecting the tank I with the lower part 3 of the hatchway are closed and that members of the crew are to escape by an air lock manoeuvre. First of all a member of the crew climbs the ladder 12, enters the tank I, passes through the door 2, opens the door! and unlocks, but does not open and he cannot open the door 1'. He then returns to the refuge compartment closing the door 2 after him. The next step is to open a sea cock l3 and thereby flood the hatchway 3, 4. The air displaced by the water which enters the hatchway escapes through an air-vent I3" in the top of the chamber 4 into the refuge compartment. Meanwhile the valve l3 has been opened and water continues to enter the tank I until the water in the tank I reaches the level 8 (Figs. 4, 5, 6). The valve I3 is then closed. As soon as water instead of air is ejected from the air-vent IS in the top of the upper part 4 of the hatchway, the said air-vent is closed also. When the water pressure inside the hatchway equals the water pressure outside the vessel, the sea cock i3 is turned off and the 'door 1' is opened by means of a special handle l4 accessible from the refuge compartment. The door 1 is then lowered by means of the handle l4; and the valve I3 is opened. The water inside both the tank I and the lower part 3 of the hatchway thus gradually assumes the level 8,

- a vent I in known manner.

whilst surplus water escapes from the tank I through an overflow pipe 8 which prevents the water level in the tank rising above the level 8. The valve I3 is then shut and the door 2 opened. A first party of two, three or four men fitted with submarine autorespirators and watertight dresses now climb up the ladder I2, enter the tank I and pass through the door 2 into the lower part 3 of the hatchway (see Fig. 4). Another member of the crew wearing the watertight dress then shuts the door 2 from inside the tank I; after which he may leave the tank I so as to avoid getting cold. As soon as the door 2 is shut, one of the men inside the lower part 3 of the hatchway opens a conduit I5 through which compressed air is supplied in order to raise the pressure in the lower part '3 to that of the surrounding water (see Fig. 5). As soon as the pressures in the parts 3 and. 4 of the hatchway are balanced, the door I is opened, air escapes from 3 through 4 and water takes its place and fills up the lower part 3 of the hatchway. This takes place more rapidly if one of the crew, standing inside or outside the tank I, forcesopen the door I by means of the handle I4. The sooner this is done the :better, since the time taken by members of the crew to become accustomed to reduced pressure depends on the time they have been subjected to high pressure. When the door I is open the member of the crew who is least aifected by changes in pressure leaves the vessel first, floating up through the reserve-buoyancy of his respirator. He takes hold of a cable, such as that of the telephone buoy, on which stopping points are marked with knots and the other members of the crew follow him (seeFig. 6). As soon as the members of the crew in the refuge compartment see through a spy glass I6 that the part 3 is empty (for this purpose a lighted diving lamp is arranged inside thelower part .3 of the hatchway) they shut the door I with the aidof thehandle I4. .Further parties of the crew can now escape in the same way as the first party already referred to. Although an air-lock manoeuvre, such as that described above, isthe safest when escaping from a depth of morerthan ten to fifteen fathoms, it is sometimes preferable to make use of a barometric manoeuvre, which is more rapid although less safe. For example the air-lock manoeuvre might be too slow if the air pressure in the refuge compartment-were to increase rapidly due to leakages in the water-tight bulk-head, or if chloride gases were present.

When performing a barometric manoeuvre first of all theparts 3 and 4 of the hatchway are flooded withthe door 2 shut, doors I, I open. The tank I is then flooded by means of the valve I3 until the water reaches the level 8 (Fig. 6). The air pressure in the refuge compartment is then raised by admitting compressed air through In order to save compressed air and to equal the pressure of the surroundingwater as soon as possible, the refuge compartment may be flooded until about half full of water. If this is done it may not be necessary to admit compressed air through the air vent (i. e. at nearly 5 fathoms depth).

As soon as the crew observe, from a suitable instrument (such as a high pressure barometer together with a depth manometer I1), that the pressures are balanced, one of them opens the door 2 and they all leave the vessel, one after the other, by way of the ladder I2, the tank I, the

.door'2, the part 3 of the hatchway, the door I,

the part 4 of the hatchway, the door I and take hold of the cable outside.

In both cases, the arrangement described prevents escape of air and the consequent inrush of water through the hatchway, which otherwise might easily occur in rough sea, since the com bined action of the inner scuttle I of the hatchway and of the door 2 ensures a constant pressure in the refuge compartment, and a constant water level in the tank.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show how the air-lock manoeuvre is performed with the aid of this installation and also show clearly how the principal ad vantage of this special system of escaping can be obtained, namely, the shortest possible time for attaining the necessary pressure inside the lock 3 (or lower room 3 of the tubular hatchway 3, 4) and consequently the smallest danger of embolism for men, when emerging from great depths. Instead of 40-50 minutes being required for attaining a pressure of atm. as would be the case with a barometric manoeuvre, we can obtain this same pressure in 4-5 minutes, as shown by the most recent experiences on board Italian submarines, using a very small amount of compressed air.

A further feature of the present invention is shown by Figure 3. In submarine vessels fitted with known forms of hatchway it was practically impossible to use the tank, either for barometric or for air-lock (or equilibrium) escape, if the boat was not lying on an even keel, but steeply on her bow or on her beam-ends. Since a steep inclination would be suflicient not only to cause water to pour into the compartment by over-flowing the upper edge 5 of the tank, but also to cause the water-level 8 in the tank itself on one side to descend below the upper edge 6 of the door 2 (Fig. 3) or, in other words, the lower edge of the tube 4, escape of air from the compartment was possible. Such an escape of air would of course result in the air pressure in the compartment itself being reduced and in the inrush of considerable quantities of Water through the hatchway. According to the present invention, the upper edges of the inner rubber-cloth tank, are bonneted as high as the ceiling of the compartment, by the cloth addition 9, which is adapted to be raised from the lower side of the tank and fastened to the ceiling. In this way, a new water-level I0 can be reached without any danger of escape of air and inrush of water.

Obviously, when the bonnet 9 is raised, men can get into the tank from the upper side I I of the tank, where the bonnet is left loose.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for facilitating escape from a submerged vessel, comprising a hatchway in the vessel having upper and lower chambers, a door between the hatchway chambers, a refuge compartment in the vessel, a collapsible tank in the refuge compartment, a water-tight door in the side of the lower hatchway chamber, said door providing communication between said chamber and the tank and being operable from inside the tank, and means for flooding said tank and lower hatchway chamber.

2. Apparatus for facilitating escape from a submerged vessel, comprising a hatchway in the vessel having upper and lower chambers, a door between the hatchway chambers, a refuge compartment in the vessel, a collapsible tank in the refuge compartment, a water-tight door in the side of the lower hatchway chamber, said door providing communication between said chamber and the tank and being operable from inside the tank, means for flooding said tank and lower hatchway chamber, and means for establishing a predetermined water level in the tank and lower chamber when the door between the hatchway chambers is lowered and the door between the lower hatchway chamber and the tank is closed.

3. Apparatus for facilitating escape from a submerged vessel, comprising a hatchway in the vessel having upper and lower chambers, a door between the hatchway chambers, a refuge com partment in the vessel, a collapsible tank in the refuge compartment, a water-tight door in the side of the lower hatchway chamber, said door providing communication between said chamber and the tank and being operable from inside the tank, means for flooding said tank and lower hatchway chamber, and means for admitting compressed air into the lower hatchway chamber when the door between the hatchway chambers is lowered and the door between the lower chamber and the tank is closed.

4. Apparatus for facilitating escape from a submerged vessel, comprising a hatchway in the vessel having upper and lower chambers, a door between the hatchway chambers, a refuge compartment in the vessel, a collapsible tank in the refuge compartment, a water-tight door in the side of the lower hatchway chamber, said door providing communication between said chamber and the tank and being operable from inside the tank, means for flooding said tank and lower hatchway chamber, and a door in the outer wall of the upper hatchway chamber.

5. Apparatus for facilitating escape from a submerged vessel, comprising a hatchway in the vessel having upper and lower chambers, a door between the hatchway chamber, a refuge compartment in the vessel, a collapsible tank in the refuge compartment, a water-tight door in the side of the lower hatchway chamber, said door providing communication between said chamber and the tank and being operable from inside the tank, means for flooding said tank and lower hatchway chamber, means for admitting compressed air into the lower hatchway chamber when the door between the hatchway chambers is lowered and the door between the lower chamher and the tank is closed, and means for operating the door between the hatchway chambers from inside the refuge compartment.

6. Apparatus for facilitating escape from a submerged vessel, comprising a hatchway in the vessel having upper and lower chambers, a door between the hatchway chambers, a refuge compartment in the vessel, a collapsible tank in the refuge compartment, a water-tight door in the side of the lower hatchway chamber, said door providing communication between said chamber and the tank and being operable from inside the tank, means for flooding said tank and lower hatchway chamber, and a bonnet on the top of the collapsible tank, said bonnet being capable of upward extension sufficiently to allow a higher free water level in the tank without flooding the refuge compartment when the vessel is not on even keel or is lying on its beam-ends.

ANGELO BELLONI. 

